Today, I Confess: Instagram is Not Fun for Teachers Anymore.
It's tempting to cut your losses and leave the platform, but what if we want to try and find a way back to IG enjoyment?
Four years ago, Instagram was a dramatically different place (as was every other Social Media platform).
My show – The Beyond Measure Podcast – was largely built through Instagram. Most of you reading this probably found me there first.
Back then, for me, Instagram was “the fun place” for piano teachers.
Facebook had a lock on piano teacher groups (and still does), but those can be intimidating and full of conflict.
...you can’t expect anything different when you put thousands of opinions together (especially when those opinions are coming from people who work in a profession with no qualifications and/or regulations).
With Insta, however, we got to choose. We weren’t pontificating or arguing; we were just gathering inspiration from one another and our (albeit filtered) faces.
We followed who we wanted to follow, and we found new friends when we saw who THEY were following.
Some of us are under the illusion that it still works this way, but I assure you: things are different now.
There’s a lot of talk in the tech space right now about the changes in social media.
The truth is, especially on Instagram, who you "follow" doesn’t matter.
The algorithm is so focused on feeding you content from OTHER creators, you can scroll for a long time before you come across content from someone you have actually *chosen* to follow.
Are there ways you can “train” the algorithm based on your own interactions and settings? Yes, to some extent.
But the Powers-That-Be are determined to keep you on their app as long as possible, and this means feeding you content (largely short-form video) to keep you scrolling.
This leaves content creators focusing less on what they care about sharing, and more on how to share it.
There are layers of trends and strategies to feed the algorithm, but I find most of those things to be distracting (or even counter-productive) to the message being shared.
It's a total catch-22, because why would we share on social media if no one was going to see it?
But also: what’s the point in creating inflammatory content just to be seen?
With floods of "professional" Instagrammers cranking out algorithm-friendly content, that all-important audience engagement is harder to come by these days.
I see it in my own behavior. I don’t double-tap (like) nearly as much content as I used to. Doing so would require me to break the trance of endless scrolling Instagram works so hard to put me under.
…and as infrequently as I stop to add hearts to something I enjoy, it’s even more rare I stop and actually follow creators based on what is in my feed.
SO WHAT’S THE POINT, CHRISTINA?
Maybe I just wanted to offer up a whiney confession on behalf of all of us today.
OR: Maybe I want to take Instagram back.
There are plenty of things I do that feel like work. I don't want IG to be one of them. It should be the antithesis of work.
The following are some promises I’m making to myself regarding my approach to Instagram for the near future.
Consider the following my 2025 Personal Oath of Instagram Usage:
- I will make a list of creators I want to check in on and actually search for them in the search bar to see what they’re up to (how’s THAT for old school?!)
- I will stay mindful of my short-video scrolling trance, being particularly cautious of the "Suggested For You" Reels sections.
- In my own creation, I will treat IG less like work and more like show-and-tell
- I will pay attention to what feels like fun
- I will prioritize showing up in IG stories since it’s the most human thing I can do on that platform (ditto for responding to DM’s)
- I will not obsess over “vanity metrics” like my number of followers
Are you game to try any of these? HIT REPLY and tell me YOUR rules for engaging on Instagram!💜
🥂 Cheers to TAKING BACK our social media. Work is work, and social should be SOCIAL. 🥂